Winston Churchill said there is “no such thing as a good tax.” Surely, then, it follows that no good can come from double taxation. While it’s difficult to feel sympathy for Conrad Black, who earned approximately $3.39 million with another $1.7 million of taxable benefits in 2002, the underlying principles… – Continue reading
Today the Minister of Education and Economic Development, Dr. the Hon. Grant Gibbons JP MP, announced that the Registrar of Companies’ full-year 2013 results revealed the largest number of new company incorporations since 2008 and a very healthy increase over the 2012 results. “The good news is incorporations continue to… – Continue reading
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The days of multinational companies being able to use the Double Irish Dutch Sandwich to avoid taxation may soon be coming to an end, with the G20 group of nations looking to create a reporting standard to allow for automatic exchange of tax information. In the official communique coming at the end… – Continue reading
Kiwis could be forced to surrender their private details to United States authorities as part of a deal to combat tax-dodging. Those affected could include high-profile New Zealanders in entertainment, sports and business who have previously lived in the US. The Government has stressed the law changes to override New… – Continue reading
A tribunal has found that a tax avoidance scheme which involved celebrities, fund managers and other high earners claiming that they were second-hand car dealers in their spare time did not work. The decision, which will save the country £290 million, is the fourth consecutive win by HM Revenue and… – Continue reading
UTI International (Singapore) chief executive officer Praveen Jagwani says the asset manager had to remove American investors because of the compliance burden Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (Fatca) brings. The regulation requires financial institutions to use enhanced due diligence to identify US citizens that have invested in either non-US financial… – Continue reading
News of corporations taking advantage of tax loopholes to avoid paying their fair share toward the cost of government continues to flow in. Usually, closing these loopholes requires legislative action by a divided Congress, but there’s one $10 billion a year loophole that can be closed with a Treasury Department… – Continue reading
The Island is a step closer to sealing the landmark FATCA tax-sharing agreement with the United States. Treasury minister Eddie Teare has won Tynwald support for measures to enshrine it in Manx law. The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act was signed by the Isle of Man and the United States… – Continue reading
The Manx government has asked S&P to stop its ratings after the agency warned of risks to the island’s financial services industry from international regulation The Isle of Man government has told Standard & Poor’s to stop rating its debt after the agency downgraded the island’s credit rating. S&P cut… – Continue reading
The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service released a final package of regulations Thursday to implement the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act and amend the regulations to align them with existing tax rules. FATCA was included as part of the HIRE Act of 2010, with the goal of combating… – Continue reading
NASSAU, The Bahamas – Minister of Financial Services Ryan Pinder said, on February 20, 2014, that the international landscape for financial services continues to change extremely rapidly and his Ministry continues to actively follow and engage on issues emanating from the Global Forum, OECD, G-8, G20, the European Union and… – Continue reading
The Isle of Man is kind of like the United Kingdom’s version of the Caymen Islands. Technically it’s a crown dependency, and the British government is responsible for its defense and foreign relations. But it’s also completely self-governing with one of the oldest Parliaments in the world. The “island administration,” which… – Continue reading
Congress is on a roll, trying to track down hidden offshore accounts, and the latest news is a report that shows which states have the most taxpayers disclosing such accounts (California is No. 1), and where they are located (Switzerland is tops). All told, taxpayers in at least 45 states… – Continue reading
The United States permanent subcommittee will be holding a hearing as they try to solve issues surrounding offshore tax evasion as prosecutors conduct criminal probes of 14 banks including credit Suisse Group AG. According to a statement by the committee, the focus will be on the status efforts to hold… – Continue reading
The United States is pushing measures to close tax evasion loopholes with global co-operation at the G-20 summit in Sydney, Australia, where the group of 20 advanced and emerging economies are meeting. The U.S. is bent on reducing the loopholes used by MNCs to avoid tax. Just ahead of the… – Continue reading
Deal comes as federal authorities escalate criminal probe into allegations Credit Suisse and other Swiss banks helped U.S. clients duck taxes on assets in offshore accounts. Credit Suisse is paying $196 million and admitting wrongdoing to settle civil charges it violated federal securities laws by providing financial advisory services to… – Continue reading
Treasury moved to close loophole used by wealthy to avoid stamp duty By placing homes in companies they can be sold without paying tax Ministers had expected the new levy to raise £20million this year But Danny Alexander reveals it is on course to generate £100million A crackdown on the… – Continue reading
The battle against offshore tax evasion is gaining momentum after Australia and the US struck a deal to combat tax-dodgers and G20 members prepared to sign off on a scheme for the automatic exchange of tax information. American Treasury Secretary, Jack Lew, and federal Treasurer, Joe Hockey, announced in Sydney… – Continue reading
The White House is targeting overseas corporate-tax avoidance in its budget for fiscal 2015. President Obama will unveil a slew of proposals on March 4 that would, among other things, tighten rules for digital transactions that some companies design to limit the taxes they pay on certain income, the WSJ’s… – Continue reading
Mirror investigator Nick Sommerlad says this is the fourth time in a row HM Revenue and Customs has defeated the firm’s complex tax avoidance schemes This is the latest victory for HMRC against a notorious tax avoidance firm. London-based NT Advisors have been behind a string of schemes which would… – Continue reading
Vodafone, stung by the decision of a cash-hungry Indian government to apply new rules on retrospective taxation and press its demand for as much as Rs20,000 crore ($3.2 billion) in back taxes and penalties, has countered by saying gains from the overseas transaction in which it bought out Hutchinson’s Indian… – Continue reading
It’s a u-turn, but unavoidable: bankers and politicians are preparing for the automatic exchange of tax information. Switzerland has helped develop the new standard, which the OECD wants to fast-track worldwide. The days when Swiss finance ministers said banking secrecy was non-negotiable and carved in stone are over. Switzerland has… – Continue reading
British telecom major Vodafone said on Wednesday that the government is looking to tax it twice over. The company was referring to its total tax liability of Rs 20,000 crore in terms ofcapital gains tax of a 2007 deal to buy into Hutch Essar as well as a transfer pricing case. Vodafone had… – Continue reading
A government bill has been submitted to the Knesset to amend the Income Tax Ordinance, adding a chapter on the exchange of information under international conventions. This will allow the Israel Tax Authority to share information with tax authorities of other countries, including countries with which has no tax treaty,… – Continue reading
In Israel, several large companies were persuaded to pay several billions of shekels of tax late in 2013, at reduced rates, on “trapped profits” after claiming tax breaks on undistributed profits. As a result, personal income-tax rates did not go up 1 percent to 2% at the beginning of 2014…. – Continue reading
The Committee for Economic Affairs and Taxation (CEAT) of the Swiss Council of States has unanimously agreed to return to the Federal Council for renegotiation the bilateral agreement concluded with France, aimed at preventing double taxation with respect to inheritance tax (IHT). The CEAT committee has specifically tasked the Government… – Continue reading
Pakistan and Afghanistan would finalise modalities for signing Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion Convention in the next meeting of the 9th session of the Pak-Afghan Joint Economic Commission (JEC) to be held on February 23-24 in Kabul. A senior FBR official told Business Recorder here on Tuesday… – Continue reading
Tensions are rising in canton Valais, Switzerland, pitting the local authorities against citizens over the benefits of urban development versus cultural preservation. The reason? A plan to end lump-sum taxation for wealthy foreigners that will come to a nationwide vote next year. The historic village of Lens, located on the… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: Continuing its crackdown on black moneymenace, India has entered into an agreement with Switzerland for liberal interpretation of identity requirements for gathering information about illicit funds stashed away by its citizens in Swiss banks. “Government has also signed a mutual agreement with government of Swiss Confederation for liberal interpretation of the… – Continue reading
February 14 — The Latvian finance ministry on February 6 presented a draft agreement for the avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income with Cyprus. The agreement aims to promote trade, foreign investment and facilitate investment from both Latvia and Cyprus. The draft DTA… – Continue reading
In a world of widening inequality, it is perhaps the most pernicious injustice of them all. Multinational corporations and wealthy individuals avoiding tax on an unprecedented scale, shuffling assets, income and debt to the most favourable tax jurisdictions and confounding hapless authorities. It is impossible to identify exactly how much… – Continue reading
Fugitive mainland Chinese tycoon Zeng Wei, who is facing extradition to Hong Kong from the United States, is tied to at least five offshore companies, including one that was involved in a multimillion-dollar bribes-for-loans racket investigated by the ICAC, leaked company documents show. The property developer, hotel and golf course… – Continue reading
Bangladesh and Kuwait have signed a double taxation avoidance agreement recently in a bid to promote bilateral trade and investment between the two countries. The agreement titled ‘The avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income’ was signed Wednesday in Kuwait. Bangladesh’s National… – Continue reading
Russian Federation Council foreign committee chairman Mihhail Margelov said at his meeting with Estonian Riigikogu speaker Ene Ergma on Thursday that the agreement on avoiding double taxation between the two states is in Russia interests too, LETA/Public Broadcasting reports. Ergma expressed concerns over the halting of the ratification process of… – Continue reading
Former treasurer Wayne Swan has warned that Australia risks losing global influence unless this year’s G20 summit achieves concrete results on issues such as multinational tax avoidance. Ahead of this weekend’s meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bankers in Sydney, Mr Swan also urged the Abbott government not to… – Continue reading
Irish Corporate Tax 2014: The current Irish governance system has remained unchanged through boom and bust and the addiction to political spin, distortion and sometimes lies, works at least in the short term while in some cases it has an enduring impact. To paraphrase Abraham Lincoln, America’s 16th president, it’s possible “to… – Continue reading
More than 150 attendees gathered at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas for the Global Financial Summit. Our theme this year was “Market Solutions to World Problems,” as opposed to government solutions. In this tax haven just off the U.S. borders, we gained some valuable advice. Peter Schiff, president of EuroPacific… – Continue reading
Apart from tracking the fortunes of Finns battling for Olympic greatness in Sochi, Tuesday’s news headlines also looked at domestic themes. Among them official concerns about Estonia as a possible tax haven for Finnish firms, a comparison of media coverage of immigration in Finland and the Netherlands and education funding… – Continue reading
An $880 million payout to Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation has reignited the debate over whether global companies pay their fair share of tax in Australia. News was paid the money after winning a long-running legal battle with the Tax Office relating to a 1989 restructure of the media empire involving… – Continue reading
February 14 — The Costa Rican government on February 13 announced that it has signed an agreement for the avoidance of double taxation on income and capital with Germany. The agreement was signed in San Jose by Costa Rica’s Finance Minister Ayales Edgar and the German Ambassador Ernst Martens. The agreement aims… – Continue reading
The Financial Services Authority wishes to advise that an entity called “ATM Express AG” claiming to offer Forex Services as a registered St. Vincent and the Grenadines International Business Company, is not and has never been registered by the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Financial Services Authority. The purported entity… – Continue reading
February 17 — New Zealand Revenue Minister Todd McClay on February 10 announced that the agreement for the avoidance of double taxation between New Zealand and Papua New Guinea entered into force on January 21, 2014. The two countries signed the tax treaty on October 29, 2012 (216 International Tax… – Continue reading
Some three hundred years ago Sir Walter Scott asked, “Breathes there a man with soul so dead who never to himself hath said, This is my own, my native land.” Well, in America corporations are legally deemed “persons,” so the answer to Scott’s question is “Yes,” at least when it… – Continue reading
Switzerland must adopt a position on sharing bank client data with foreign tax authorities more quickly than originally thought and cannot hold back until all other countries have introduced the practice, its finance minister told a Swiss newspaper. So far, 42 countries have declared an interest in automatically sharing information… – Continue reading
Singapore’s wealth management industry grew 22 percent in 2012 to 1.63 trillion Singaporean dollars ($1.29 trillion US), and its share of global offshore wealth is expected to outstrip Switzerland by 2020, according to data from WealthInsight, an industry research group. Learning from the recent scandal when Swiss banks, including UBS… – Continue reading
Swiss banks are set to be in Capitol Hill’s crosshairs next week over tax evasion. Sen. Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat, is planning to lead the latest tax-evasion hearing in the permanent subcommittee on investigations, which he heads. The focus this time is the status of efforts to hold Swiss… – Continue reading
The Federal Labor Party has demanded the Government bring Australia’s international taxation regulations into line to deal with multinationals such as Apple and Google, which are siphoning billions of dollars of revenue out of Australia while paying only small amounts of local tax. In a statement issued this morning, Shadow… – Continue reading
A US judge’s opinion in favour of Validus Re in a tax case could have positive implications for Bermuda reinsurers. Retrocession arrangements in respect to offshore entities providing coverage for US risks are not subject to tax, the US federal court decision states. Judge Amy Jackson of the US federal… – Continue reading
NICOSIA, Cyprus — When the Cypriot government forced bank depositors — many of them Russian — to pay their share of an international bailout last spring, Vasilis Zertalis’s phone started ringing. The companies his consultancy helps incorporate on this breezy Mediterranean island — many of them Russian, too — wanted… – Continue reading
